


Good Afternoon, Adolescent Love

by ootamudkip



Series: AKB48 Team B 5th Stage (シアターの女神/Theater no Megami) [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27772573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ootamudkip/pseuds/ootamudkip
Summary: It's Neville fourth year and he love to be back at Hogwarts. There are many exciting experience and unexpected friendship await him this year. Will he be able to stand the fourth year or will he give up?--LMAO I'm suck at summary
Relationships: Neville Longbottom/Draco Malfoy
Series: AKB48 Team B 5th Stage (シアターの女神/Theater no Megami) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968013
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

It’s the 31st of August and everyone is excited to get back into Hogwarts. Loud chatter from students and their parents in platform 93/4 filled the air as they said goodbye to each other. As the students board the Hogwarts Express they meet their friends and exchange stories of their summer holiday. Everyone has smiles plastered to their face, even for someone like Draco Malfoy. Upfront he might put up a scowling face, but deep down he’s more than happy to return to the school. The situation at Malfoy Manor had been cold, to say the least, and it feels suffocating to stay at home. He remembers giving his parents a stern goodbye as he boarded the train and now he’s sitting in his compartment half-listening to Crabbe, sometimes nodding just to humor his friends. 

They’ve been friends, if that what you can call their little trio, even before they got admitted to Hogwarts. But there are times where Draco feels like they’re more like minions than a friend, it’s as if they don’t have a brain of their own. He wonders if their parents hadn’t been a family friend that he’d be willing to even befriend them at all. However, it feels nice to have someone to do your bidding and look at you with such admiration so Draco let it slide. It’s not like there are other options to befriend anyway, he might be a student but he’s also a Malfoy and he has pride in his bloodline. 

However, after half-listening to Crabbe’s babble, he feels like he needs to get away for a little while. He told Crabbe and Goyle that he has to use the lavatory and leave the compartment stretching his legs. He meets the trolley witch and the old lady smile at him “Anything off the cart, dears?”, Draco takes pumpkin pasties and continues walking. He lean to the window near the door to other passenger coach eating his pastry, he could faintly hear Blaise laughing at his compartment. He and Blaise have become acquainted with each other, especially since he seems to put an effort only to befriend Draco and Pansy Parkinson. 

As he lost in his thought the door to the other passenger coach suddenly open and a head popped in with a little whimper “Trevor”. He notices that it’s Longbottom, his father didn’t exactly sing praises to the Longbottom family, calling them blood traitor and other names. “What are you doing here Longbottom?” Draco sneered at Neville which startled the other boy. “I was just looking for Trevor, my frog” Neville look nervous, especially since his interaction with Draco hadn’t exactly been pleasant. 

Before he could let out another remark toward Neville, Hermione Granger enter the coach looking annoyed “Step away from him Malfoy, unless you want me to redo our interaction earlier this year”. Draco raised his hands, getting slapped by Hermione on their last semester had been a moment he didn’t want to experience again. “I was just saying that Gryffindor isn’t exactly welcomed at this part,” he glanced at Neville “especially for someone like Longbottom”. It’s partially a lie since students are free to roam the Hogwarts Express, but there’s an unwritten rule since many of them like to gather in the same coach some have become each house territory. 

Hermione rolls her eyes “I don’t care, we’re only here to find Trevor” she grabbed Neville’s arm and Draco watch the two of them walk away. He wonders why it seems like Neville loses his frog every single year. He continues to eat his pumpkin pastry and looking at the scenery outside the window. Around twenty minutes later he could hear both of them coming back, but before he could say anything Hermione glared at him and he closes his mouth. He looks back outside, he remembers his father had mentioned something about a Triwizard championship. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on his father but it’s happened and he smiled to himself thinking that maybe this year will be an interesting year. 

***

“You really need to put a bell or maybe put him in a cage Neville” Hermione sighed as they both walk back to the Gryffindor passenger coach. “I did but he always managed to get out somehow” Neville holds Trevor tightly since this is the fourth time the frog escaped from him and he had to beg Hermione to help find him. He’d been very glad to have Hermione as his friend since it’s not exactly been easy for him to make friends. They walk back to their compartment where Ron and Harry are heatedly discussing the quidditch world cup. Ginny greets them as they enter the compartment.

“You’re back! Where did Trevor go off this time?” 

“We found him on the buffet car, how he’s able to get there we don’t know” Hermione chuckle

“He probably has more magic than I do,” Neville put Trevor into his cage “now Ron, you were saying something about Viktor Krum?”

They fall back into more discussion about quidditch and Neville listening intently at them. He had wanted to go too, but his grandmother didn’t want to go so he had to stay back home. After hearing the attack at the world cup his grandmother keeps reminding him how lucky for him to stay at home rather than going there. He knows that his grandma means well, but he can’t help but to feel sting of jealousy as he listens to his friend’s experience. That doesn’t mean he didn’t share some excitement with them though, he still remembers vividly when they went to the forbidden forest and accidentally finding Fluffy during his first year. They continue the chatter until the train arrived at Hogsmeade station and one by one they leave the train to start their new year at Hogwarts.

The first feast of the semester at the great hall always brings joy to Neville’s mind. The sense of togetherness, the excitement of the first years, and definitely the amazing food. They watch together as the first year is being sorted into their house by the sorting hat. He could remember when the sorting hat decided to sort him into the Gryffindor, what made him got sorted to Gryffindor is still a mystery to him but at least he’s enjoying the presence of his housemate. 

After all the first year got sorted Dumbledore stand up and with a cheerful joy in his voice explained the upcoming Triwizard Tournament that will be held this semester. As he finished explaining the buzz of excitement filled the entire great hall. 

“Can you believe they actually decided to hold this tournament again? After hundreds of years putting it off” 

“Calm down Hermione, besides they probably just looking for something new to do” Ron said as he chewed his food

“People died at this competition Ron,” she hit him with her spoon “and please chew your food properly before you speak”

Harry laugh at his friend’s banter “Ron is right though since this time there are more requirement hopefully we won’t have any casualties”

“If anything, I think we should be more worried about Seamus pyrotechnics tendencies” Dean chimed in which followed by a playful slap from Seamus. They all laughed and continue to enjoy their food. 

As usual, after the feast, they all return to their dorm and this time Neville is ready to memorize the password properly. After the Sirius Black incident and the howler from his grandma last spring he had prepared himself. The revoked Hogsmeade visit pass had nothing compare to his grandma howler, which had been humiliating to say the least. He watches as the first year in front can’t stop turning their head, amazed at the sight of Hogwarts, he always thinks the first year excitement as cute and adorable. They arrive in front of Fat Lady and listen intently to her explanation of the password system. Neville looks sideways when Fat Lady warns them to never wrote down the password but he could hear Fred and George snickering behind him. 

Inside their dorm, Neville can’t help but to yawn, the long trip and amazing feast surprisingly has always taken a lot of energy to deal with. “You know, didn’t have to unpack and sorted our clothes is one of the best part returning to Hogwarts” Dean said followed with a nod by other boys. Seamus is pushing his bed so that it becomes one with Dean’s before realizing Harry, Ron, and Neville looking at him quizzically, “Bigger bed means bigger space” he said looking proud as if he just let out the smartest idea in the entire Hogwarts history. Harry, Ron, and Neville just look at each other and decided to shrug it off, they are way too exhausted to deal with whatever Seamus is doing. After changing into pajamas and getting under their blanket one by one they out like a light, excited to start another year at Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Today is Wednesday and Neville can’t stop himself from feeling nauseous. This is the first potion class of the year and Professor Snape always makes him nervous despite this year being his fourth year. Last year the class wasn’t so bad since they share it with Hufflepuff and they could actually work together. However, this year they share it with Slytherin which means there will be blatant discrimination against other houses. With Snape’s unforgiving harsh tone and the potential jeers from Slytherin, it is understandable for him that the idea of somersaulting the astronomy tower sounds like a magnificent thing to do. 

Hermione looks at him worriedly during lunch, she knows that they’ll have potion in two hours and that’s what causing Neville’s solemn mood. “Relax Neville, you passed potion last year it wouldn’t be so bad” she tries to cheer him but to no effect. Potion and he has never seemed to be a good match, which is an irony since he’s outstanding at Herbology and both classes are often linked with each other. He groans trying to appreciate Hermione’s attempt and continues to eat his egg sandwich. He looks at the other student at his years, Lavender and Parvati are talking about divination, Harry and Ron are talking about the upcoming Triwizard Championship, Dean is still trying to explain the appeal of soccer to Seamus. Even Seamus, with a tendency to explode everything he touches, doesn’t seem to be in a similar state as him. Which could either mean Neville is overreacting or Seamus is too dense to notice the impending disaster, knowing the other boy it’s probably the latter. 

As he walks to the classroom his feet feel heavy and he couldn’t seem to focus on anything. He knows he looks pale since Hermione keeps throwing a worried glance at him. “Neville breath okay?” she tried her best to calm his friend “How about this? I’ll sit next to you so that you won’t be so disastrous for our first lesson”. Neville looks up at Hermione and for the first time feels a bit of relief washing over him. Having Hermione, the brightest witch of his year, as a partner could really help him overcome his problem at potion, especially since they need to prepare for the upcoming O.W.L. next year. 

Luckily, the class hadn’t been as much disaster as he expects. Professor Snape seems to be more focused on keeping things civil between Harry and Draco because for some unknown reason, despite being unable to withstand each other presence, they had to pick the seat next to each other. Mock and jeer exchanged throughout the class between the two and Harry already made Gryffindor lose ten points by the end of the class. Slytherin also loses five points and the only reason they only lose half of the amount is, according to Snape, Draco appears to be more calm compare to Harry, which is a blatant lie to everyone with a working pair of eyes. 

Unlike the previous year, they all had to create a simple self-warming potion for the first class. It had been a simple potion and after re-reading the purpose of the potion for the second time Neville whisper to Hermione “Isn’t this is the same thing as ginger tea?”. Hermione tries her best to not laugh while signaling Neville to not say that out loud unless he wants Snape to deduct more points from Gryffindor. “The self-warming potion,” she starts “could warm you up for a longer period, now cut the ginger diagonally to make this right”. After stirring the concoction twelve times and adding the crushed African chilly pepper the potion is pretty much done and Neville feels so proud of himself for not messing up. It’s a basic potion sure, but a little win is still a win and he’ll take that. 

As Professor Snape announces that the time is up he goes around checking each student’s potion and everyone’s potion seems to meet his standard. He’s so absorbed in his achievement that he didn’t notice that everyone is putting back the equipment and the heated argument across the room. Harry, followed by Ron, and Draco, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, give each other a murderous glare as they leave the classroom. Hermione nudge at Neville “Neville, I’m sorry but could you take care of this for me? I feel like a storm might be coming” she refers to Harry and Draco. “Of course, sure” it’s the least he can do after Hermione helped him after all. He put the self-warming potion in his bag and put the knife and chopping board in the storage. As he gets ready to leave a loud scream can be heard outside the classroom. He knows that the scream belongs to Hermione and rush to see what happens. 

In the hallway, he could see that Hermione’s front teeth have grown past her chin while Goyle’s face is filled with red pimples ready to burst anytime. Snape pushes past Neville and scolds Harry and Draco, he deducts another ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin before telling them to go to the infirmary. Neville just stands there looking at the group disperse from the hallway. He doesn’t know whether to be surprised or find the situation funny, considering the whole debacle probably happened in less than ten minutes and on their first week to add. “At least Harry and Ron accompanying Hermione” and he walks trying to enjoy his free time before dinner arrives.

***

“I didn’t mean for the spell to hit Granger” alas it’s quite funny though but Draco won’t say that out loud, especially with the Gryffindor trio is still near his vicinity. “Well, but your spell bloody did hit her” Ron almost take out his wand if it weren’t for Madam Pomfrey glare at them. “In case you haven’t notice Weasley, Potter’s spell also hit Goyle” He was about to continue but with a flick of her wand Madam Pomfrey cast a silencing charm to shut both parties. Draco and Harry continue to glare at each other while Madam Pomfrey administers the healing potion to Hermione and then Goyle. 

“Now, I do not wish for a similar accident to happen in near future,” she said sternly “Professor McGonagall will also hear about this and hopefully she’ll only give you a talk, not a detention.” Draco could see the Gryffindor shoulder sagging with the mention of McGonagall. He didn’t say anything but he knows how scary the older witch can be. Together with Crabbe and Goyle, he leaves the infirmary scowling at nothing in particular. The duel between him and Harry started from light teasing between each other during potion class and escalated near the end of the class. 

Goyle keeps rubbing his face trying to feel if there are any pimples left “Stop it, Madam Pomfrey already fixes your face for you”. A little part of himself feels bad for Goyle, having dozens of pimples appear in your face within seconds cannot be comfortable. “Your jinx is brilliant too Draco, when did you learn it? Maybe I could try it too” Crabbe swing his wand back and forth with glee. “From my father, maybe I’ll teach you later” he stops in his track “Listen, you two can go back by yourself right? I need to do something, no question asked” he know Goyle is about to open his mouth but with the last word both he and Crabbe just nod and leave Draco in the hallway. 

The mention of his dad reminded him of the tense situation back home during the summer vacation. There had been mysterious guests, hushed whisper, and late-night meeting that his dad went off too abruptly. He tried asking his mother what is Lucius doing but his mother just gives a reassuring smile that it’s just a regular business thing. His father still spoiled him though, they still went to Paris albeit his father had suddenly disappeared for two days. He tried his best not to be worried but even until now, he can’t help the nagging feeling inside him. 

He looks across the courtyard and his eyes fall upon Neville Longbottom, face flushed red with excitement as he runs fast carrying a book from the library. He looks at Neville wondering how does it feel to be a pureblood without any sense of pride in their heritage. He had asked his mother in his second year what’s the deal with the Longbottom bloodline, but she went slightly pale at the mention and politely ask him to not bring the name up around her. All of a sudden he heard the chime from the bell tower indicating that dinner will start in ten minutes and decided to walk into the great hall.

***

In the great hall, students can be seen chattering with each other at their respective house tables. “I still cannot believe you did that Harry” she frowns in annoyance “on our first day nonetheless!”. 

“I said I’m sorry Hermione” Harry try his best to look sorry at her

“At least this fixes your problem with your teeth eh?”

“Shut it Ronald, I told you that in confidence” Hermione has always been self-conscious over the size of her front teeth. When the chance comes in the form of Madam Pomfrey’s potion to fix the hex she lied to her about the original size of her teeth. Of course, she feels bad about lying but she feels that she deserve that luxury after her best friend’s idiocy. 

Neville comes into the great hall and decided to sit next to Harry “Hey guys, oh your teeth is normal again Hermione” he says out of breath. “It’s rare to see you this out of breath Neville, did you just escape from Filch?” Hermione tilted her head curiously. Neville just laugh and told them that he went to the library to study “-since you said O.W.L. will be next year”. He had difficulty to retain the information until Terry boot saw his frustration and teach him the Pomodoro technique. He didn’t completely master it at one go but he could already feel improvement. 

“And if this isn’t too inconvenient to you Hermione,” he asked sheepishly “can I ask your parent to buy some loose-leaf paper and sabillo? I’ll provide the money”

“It’s Stabilo and sure Neville, but why did you need that?”

“Boot said that it might be easier for me to do an active reading and using Stabilo to help highlight the important part” he put down his bag and take out some notes that Boot gave him with multiplication charm “and using paper might be easier for notes than using a parchment”

Hermione takes a look excitedly at the notes from Boot and exchanges ideas with Neville on how he could improve the method. She admits that she wanted to use regular paper and highlighter during her first year, but is afraid to look weird because everyone using parchment and quill. She even considered buying trapper keeper earlier this year because she’s getting sick of having to unroll and re-roll the parchments. 

“This is the first time I see Neville talking excitedly over studying” Ron whispered to Harry “We’re not going to get another Hermione aren’t we?”

Harry chuckled “I don’t think so, but at least Neville could improve on his study” he knows after they found out their scores for finals on last term Neville had been quite pale, adding to the password incident and howler from his grandmother things must have not been fun for Neville prior the summer break. Their discussion got halted when dinner finally appears, today dinner is fish and chips accompanied with some steamed vegetables. Hermione squeal in glee since fish and chips are her favorite. 

After dinner, they spend their time in the common room. The common room is filled with students’ activities. Some of them are chattering with each other, some of them are reading books, and many are just goofing off. Neville loves the atmosphere during these hours because it feels like a warm welcome from the castle itself. At times like this, he can’t help but to wish he could write a letter for his parents and receive a reply from them. He loves his grandmother but he never finds her as someone he could pour out his heart to. He did tell his parents about his experience at Hogwarts, but the lack of reply from them always leaves a pang of sadness within him. There are times where he would stay locked up inside his bedroom after the visit to St. Mungo and just cried holding the candy wrapper given by his mother. During that time his grandmother seems to understand that it’s best to leave him alone, but she always has a lemon cake from that one store that Neville loves available to him whenever he decided to come out of his room. 

***

On Friday they have Defence Against the Dark Arts and needless to say many of them are excited about this class. This is one of the few classes that all the four houses will attend at the same time. There have been many talks and whispers between the students in their year about their new DADA teacher, Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody, due to his eccentric look. Looking at Professor Moody appearance at the welcome feast makes Neville miss Professor Lupin already. Out of all the DADA teachers he had, he seems to be the most normal and capable of the job. Unfortunately, due to the anti-werewolf bill passed by the ministry earlier this year, there’s no way he could return to the position. 

His thought must’ve been shown on his face because Ron asks him why he looks like he lost his remembrall. 

“No,” he sighs “I just kinda miss Professor Lupin, he was fun” and continue to eat his toast

“Me too, but I heard Professor Moody was an impeccable auror during his time back in ministry” Harry chimed in

“He’d been so well at his job that apparently he fills half of the Azkaban in just two years,” Hermione add while spreading butter on her toast “although some said that it leaves him with paranoia”

“If you caught that many death eaters, even one being Bellatrix Lestrange, it’s understandable to develop a paranoia”

Neville goes completely still hearing the name came out of Ron’s mouth. His grandmother had told him stories about his parents. She told him about the culprit of his parents’ misfortune, Bellatrix Lestrange. She had been reluctant when Neville ask more detail about that fateful day, but in the end she told him about how Bellatrix had tortured his parents to the point of no return. She tried to comfort him by showing the many support the Britain wizarding community gave towards his parents, alas he was plagued with nightmares for days after his grandmother told the story. Until this day he can’t comprehend how painful the torture must’ve been to cause his parents permanent damage. Considering that Professor Moody had been the one to apprehend Bellatrix maybe he could be quite a capable wizard and maybe if the times come he could ask him if he knew his parents. 

“Neville, mate, earth to Neville?” Seamus poke Neville’s arm

Blinking in surprise he looks at the Irish “Sorry, was just thinking. Hopefully, he won’t get into an accident like Professor Quirrell or Professor Lockhart”

Harry chokes on his water while Ron just glances to his right and Hermione suddenly looks really into her book. Dumbledore hasn’t exactly told the full story to all the other students. Everyone knows about the skirmish on the third floor and the chamber of secrets, but all they know is that Quirrell quit to ‘calm his nerves’ and Lockhart had to leave due to an accident during spell experimentation. Only the staff and a handful of people know the full story of what happened to the two wizards. 

“Considering his records I hope we could do something interesting this year, remember last year? I think that was the most interesting DADA class I’ve experienced” Seamus grin while eating his food. Neville let out a chuckle, he could still vividly remember the boggarts and freezing spell being the highlight of DADA class in his third year. “If I remember correctly hex-deflection are part of the curriculum for fourth-year so maybe we could get some duel practice” hearing the word duel got everyone around Hermione to perk up and she wonders if that’s a good thing or a potential disaster waiting to happen. “Come on, I want to pick my seat before all the good seats are taken” all of them get up and start to walk out of the great hall. “Considering your ‘good seat’ are in the front row I don’t think someone will take it soon Hermione” Hermione just smile sarcastically at Ron and continue to walk. 

Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom located on the third floor, Harry complained once about how Hogwarts could really use an elevator or escalator. Neville didn’t know what are those but according to Harry escalator is a moving stair but unlike the ones they have in Hogwarts since it’s only moving up or down and stays in a place. The elevator is similar to the moving box at the ministry but only moving up and down. Having a reliable moving stair, if Neville to be completely honest, sounds like a terrific idea. Not that he hates stairs but for them to change directions when he’s in hurry has not been pleasant, especially when it happened more than once. 

They arrive in the classroom and there’s already a handful of Ravenclaw students “Nerds” Ron whisper followed by Hermione landing a hit on his arm. Around ten minutes after they each take their seat the rest of the students from other houses slowly enter the classroom. As the bell chimes indicating the morning class will begin, Professor Moody come out of his room and slowly descend into the classroom. Neville feels a bit uneasy at his appearance, especially on how his prosthetic eye darts quickly to the surrounding classroom. He feels as if Professor Moody could look into his mind. He introduces himself and quickly points out that Seamus should find another place to stick his gum which earns many looks of bewilderment towards the professor since his back is on the students. “All right, empty your head and don’t think about anything insulting toward the professor then,” Neville thought to himself “better be safe than sorry” he doesn’t want to be the proof that Professor Moody could read minds if the man can actually do it. “When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach” he took out his wand “which means there will be more practical training against the dark creature itself”. Neville could feel himself growing more nervous, it’s not that he’s bad at the practice of magic but sometimes his wand feels as if it won’t listen to him. It is not precisely his wand, after all, it was his father’s. His grandmother had offered to buy him a new wand, but he refused because he feels that maybe by having his father’s wand with him he could believe that a part of his father will be there to protect him. He also believes that the reason the wand didn’t perform well is just that his capability is not up to the wand’s standard, thus he’ll continue to use this wand until he could prove that he’s just as worthy as his father. 

“Now, anyone can tell me what is an Erkling?” as expected Hermione’s hand shoot up to get Moody’s attention. “Of course the mudblood knows it all” Draco suddenly sneered from the back of the class followed by a shocked gasp from several students. Professor Moody stop in his track and glare at Draco, as if sensing an impending doom Draco laugh nervously trying to get Goyle in his left to laugh with him. “Now that wasn’t so nice isn’t it Mr. Malfoy?” Moody said with threat laced into every word and flick his wand. With a blink of an eye, Draco turned into a white ferret and float above Goyle’s head. Everyone raised their eyebrow but can’t help but to find the situation hilarious. The ferret let out a small squeak followed by a fit of laughter by the entire class. Moody swings his wand which in turn makes the ferret jump from head to head. 

Suddenly, McGonagall enters the classroom hearing the loud echo of laughter permeating on the entire third floor. “Alastor, what is it with your classroom being so cheery?” she stop to takes a look at the floating ferret and an empty seat next to Goyle with an open book. 

“Alastor, is that a student?” she appalled looking at the new teacher

“Well technically it’s a ferret” he cocked his head followed by several chuckles

McGonagall takes out her wand and with a flick turn Draco back into human form. He falls into Neville’s desk and Neville tries his best not to laugh while Draco is glaring at him. “We do not use transfiguration as a punishment towards students, do you understand that Alastor?” she said sternly as Draco scrambled into his seat. “Fine, but hopefully this will teach young Mr. Malfoy here to not disrupt class by saying something as derogatory as mudblood won’t he?” Moody smirk at the blonde students. “Is that true Mr. Malfoy?” McGonagall asks with disgust clear in her voice, she could see several students slowly nod to her questions “Well then, ten points will be taken from Slytherin and you will behave Mr. Malfoy” she then turns and closes the door on her way out. “You make an amazing bouncing ferret Malfoy” Ron sneered followed by a chuckle from the entire class. 

***

The last few days after their first DADA class has not been pleasant for Draco. After his short time being a ferret everyone keeps sneer at him and calling him ‘ferret-boy’. It’s even more humiliating than the time Hermione slapped him because, unlike the slap, everyone has seen the way his ferret self squeak and being thrown everywhere. The Weasleys even teasing him by lying about Professor Moody standing behind him. “I was turned into a bloody ferret, anyone will be traumatized if that happened to them too” he mutters to himself when George and Fred are out of earshot. Worst of all, even Crabbe and Goyle are laughing at him behind his back. When Pansy and some upperclassmen laugh at his misfortune in Slytherin’s common room he could see both Crabbe and Goyle are laughing together with them across the room.

After that, he purposely ignored both of them. They did try to talk to him but after a very minimalistic answer given by the blonde, they seem to understand that he wants to be left alone. However, they still try to sit with him even as of right now Crabbe currently taking the seat next to him in potion class. Everyone becomes silent as Snape enters the class and takes his seat. “I have an announcement,” he said coldly toward his students “due to last week incident and the strong suggestions from Professor McGonagall I am urged to create a pair from different houses”. Everyone groans at the suggestion, it would probably have been fine if they were to be paired with Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw but to create a group by pairing Gryffindor and Slytherin is a disaster waiting to happen. “I highly suggested that all of you take this seriously, any act of foolishness will cost your house points do you understand?” everyone let out a small yes and then he gives the list of pairing. Draco internally smirks as Crabbe got paired with Harry and Goyle paired with Ron. He can’t stop imagining the disastrous event that will befall upon them, but at least he won’t have anything to do with it. He got paired with Neville and as Snape mention his name he could see the other boy form a big frown on his face, which is rude. Between the two of them, Draco feels he’s supposed to be the one who’s frowning, considering Neville’s poor performance in potion. He could see Hermione throwing a worried glance at Neville but decided to ignore it, he’s not going to do anything to the brunette after all since he just wants to get over with this quickly. 

After everyone got their partner they begrudgingly take a seat next to each other. Luckily they only need to take notes for today’s class which means there won’t be any accidental destruction due to practical potion-making. Draco said nothing toward Neville during the entire class but he could feel the Gryffindor’s body become tense as he takes his notes. It is understandable since he’s been the target of many pranks and mischief for the past three years, with many of those perpetrated by Draco and his friends. Glancing at the other boy he notices that he’s using a different kind of paper to take notes, he also didn’t use a quill to take notes but rather a small tube that let out a different color. He looks at Hermione across the room and notices that she also uses the same thing. There’s also several little colorful paper stick out from both of their books that piqued his interest, but he realized it’s probably just a muggle thing. 

Before the end of the class, Snape assigns them to find creative use of potion and any potion will do. He gives them freedom of choice and reminds them again that the group is permanent until the end of the year, which means they’ll have to take the group project together and he will not accept any slack off. He internally curses his fate, he knows that he dislikes Hermione and she hates him too but he’ll take Granger over anyone at Gryffindor as her partner since she actually knows what she’s doing. He takes another look at Neville and let out a small sigh “This is going to be a long year” he mutter as he walks outside the class. 

***

“I cannot believe we got paired with Slytherin, does Snape want all of us to fail his class?” Ron groan

“At least you got paired with Goyle, he seems to have a brain albeit small. I got paired with Crabbe for Merlin’s sake”

“You two at least could intimidate them, I got paired with Blaise and we all know he’s smart but pureblood supremacist” Hermione rub her temple

“This is one situation where I don’t think there’s silver lining available” Neville mutter weakly behind them

“I think Malfoy wouldn’t be too much of a problem this year, his incident with Professor Moody seems to slow him down” Ron chuckle

“We know he’s good at potion and since we’ll have more group projects hopefully he’ll try to make peace with you for the sake of passing this class” Hermione smile reassuringly “On another topic, how are the pen and highlighter doing?”

The topic shifted from their unfortunate pairing to the stationaries from Hermione’s parents. When the package arrived two days ago he had been so amazed at the mechanism he keeps clicking it for half an hour just to see the tip went back and forth. Lavender and Parvati also look interested in the dozens of pens and Hermione gave them two each. It’s a rare sight for Hermione to chat with them since majority of time she talks with Harry or Ron. She also decided to buy a trapper keeper and a binder for Neville. 

Ron had laughed at the item but then change his mind when Hermione smacked him with it. 

“Do you think you could embed protection charm to it? to make it like a shield?” Dean asked in between laugh

“Ooh like Captain America?” Seamus chimed in

“You know Captain America?” 

“Yeah, my dad likes to read comic books. Do you read them too Harry?”

“Only a little bit since Dudley also have them”

“You know, I don’t think that’s a bad idea” Hermione cocked her head “a magic protection shield that you can carry anywhere, thanks for the idea Dean”

Seamus and Harry try to explain Captain America to Ron and Neville despite both of them looking confused. Dean looking at the loose-leaf commenting he hadn’t seen those for a while, while Lavender, similar to Neville, continue to click the pen followed by a chuckle from Parvati. Hermione feels a bit weird seeing everyone talk or fawning about muggle items, even something as simple as a pen or comic book. “You know, seeing the great divide between the wizarding community and the muggles do you think these kinds of interaction could help build a bridge between the two?” she blurted out of nowhere which earns stares from everyone around her. “Not something as drastic as merging the two communities together, but something like bringing a piece of muggle culture to help the wizarding community better understand muggle” she sighed “and hopefully could reduce the stigma against them”. Dean smiled at the idea “That sounds like a great idea, I seriously tempted to bring my SNES but you know no electricity and all” Seamus visited him during summer break and they’ve spent hours playing Mario Kart. 

“I’m not saying something as complicated as that, maybe something like books or music or even something like these pen as a starter”

“A romance novel sounds like a good idea, I want to know how muggles struggle through their love journey without any magic”

“I think I have those Lavender” Parvati said “My mother loves to read them, although it might be corny even for the muggles”

“My dad gonna have a field day hearing this conversation” Ron can’t help but remember how his dad fancies the muggle items. During Harry’s visit to The Burrow in their second year, his father took him to the garage and spent hours just asking what are the stuff he’s collecting and how to use them. “Well, at least you’ll be able to answer his question in my place Ron” Harry laughed, he like the enthusiasm that Mr. Weasley has toward the everyday item. They continue to chat and deciding which muggle item would be the best to start after the stationery until the bell tower ring indicating the dinner time will arrive in ten minutes and they move quickly from the common room to the great hall.

***

Draco sitting nervously at his seat alone because Goyle didn’t have the brain to check what he’s eating and is currently in the hospital wing trying to stop his extreme diarrhea. He might dislike Goyle for laughing at him but he rather seating next to someone than being alone at DADA class. He could see Professor Moody eyeing him from the front of the class and he swears that he could look into his mind with his prosthetic eye. “Now, anyone knows what is an unforgivable curse?” instinctively Draco raised his hands together with Hermione. “I see you decided to participate actively Mr. Malfoy,” Draco could feel everyone stare at him shocked “then please do explain”. 

He could explain perfectly what is an unforgivable curse because his dad told him stories about it. His mother always forbid him from learning or reading books about those in fear of Azkaban, but it didn’t deter his father to tell him about it though. His answer give Slytherin five house points, he’s not going to tell anyone but he secretly likes the feeling of accomplishment, especially if he could rub it off in front of Hermione. 

Professor Moody continues to explain each of the unforgivable curses for fifteen minutes before taking out his wand “Now, for the exciting part” and take out a bird from the cage. He could see Hermione shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “We will see the cruciatus firsthand before moving into the other curses” he then enlarge the spider and place it on Neville’s desk, who’s unfortunate enough to sit in front, and proceed to demonstrate the spell. A loud screech from the bird fills the classroom as the bird continues to spasm. Draco could see Neville’s body become tense but he must have looked worse than Draco could see from behind because after ten seconds Hermione screams at Professor Moody forcing him to stop. Hermione immediately put her hand on Neville’s shoulder as if trying to snap him out of a trance. 

The class continues but Draco could see that the mood on the Gryffindor has become sour. Even the demonstration of imperius curse, despite what everyone said feels like a pleasant experience, couldn’t shake the awkward mood caused by cruciatus curse. Draco could feel himself loosen up hearing the end of the class bell ring, he still need to work on the group project from potion class. As much as he despises having to talk to Neville, he knows that they need to work for it together unless he want whatever they’re going to make explode or any other unwanted result. Before he could even put his book into his bag Neville walk hurriedly past him. Draco internally sighs “Guess this won’t be easy then”. 

Draco search through the entire school ground trying to find Neville and getting more annoyed when he couldn’t seem to find him anywhere, even in the greenhouses. “Is this a new workout regime?” Pansy asks after she bumps into Draco for the fourth time in the hallway. Draco groans “No, I’m trying to find Longbottom because I want to discuss our potion class project”. This time Pansy is the one who groans, when Snape announced that he’ll be paired with Seamus Finnigan a scowl immediately came to her face. “After that DADA class, no wonder he run off somewhere you know? Probably can’t handle it” she sneers. Draco just raise one eyebrow at her not understanding what she try to imply. Pansy roll her eyes and proceed to tell him about the case of Alice and Frank Longbottom. Draco winces a bit when she mentions cruciatus curse and Bellatrix Lestrange participation in the torture. 

Draco walks uneasily after hearing what Pansy told him. According to her, the case had drawn massive attention from Britain wizarding community. Draco can’t really remember her aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, especially since her mother refused to talk about her whenever the discussion come up. With no clear destination to go, he decided to walk into the black lake to unwind a bit. At these time usually there’s nobody there which make a great place to just be alone. 

Once he’s getting close to one of the shade near the shore he could hear a faint noise. It takes him a few seconds but he realizes that it’s sobbing coming from someone. Casting a silencing charm on himself he moves closer trying to find out who’s the owner of the voice. While hiding behind the bushes he could see Neville sitting under the tree crying while holding Trevor close to his chest. “I really miss mum and dad Trevor” Neville knows talking to Trevor might earn him few judgemental stares but right now he couldn’t care less “Funny how I miss them despite us never really know each other”. Draco shift uncomfortably knowing the case about Neville’s parent and slowly try to walk back into the caste, project group be damned since he could always talk to Neville later. Unfortunately, his foot slip and he fell with a loud thud. “Neville definitely going to hear that” Draco think with a grimace on his face. True to his thought, Neville walk closer to the bush while rise his wand at Draco “What are you doing here Malfoy?”. Draco stand up while holding up both of his arms trying “I was..uh..trying to find you since we’re in the potion class together in case you forgot”. Neville still points his wand at Draco, face red and eyes a bit puffy from crying.

“But..uh..I guess we could discuss it another time I guess?” Draco said slowly trying to ease the tension

“Sunday, after lunch in the library,” Neville said quickly

“Ookay… I guess we’ll meet there then” Draco turn around, but before he walks he look back at Neville who’s still keeping his eyes on him “I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about” and walk back to the castle still feeling Neville’s gaze burn to his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow somehow this become longer than I anticipated lol, was planning to type like 1000 word for each chapter. [Listen to the song here](https://open.spotify.com/track/3894h4donYnnIc27d6Zalz?si=V73_xAeUSzipt2cVwTdokA). [Visit my Tumblr](https://stupidshipper.tumblr.com) or [My Insta for future updates ](https://www.instagram.com/ootamudkip/). Definitely open for constructive criticism UwU


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